Quantum of Solace reviews: roundup by the BBC

In addition to its own review, in which Lizo Mzimba called it a “badder, better but not bigger”, the BBC has published a summary of reviews published by the UK media.

On the whole all reviews are favourable, although they tend to agree that it is not as good as Casino Royale. The also agree that the action sequences as every bit as memorable as in the previous film and Daniel Craig is excellent as Jame Bond.

The forthcoming Bond movie was previewed to a press audience amid tight security on Friday 17th October at the Odeon, Leicester Square. Mobile phones were banned from the screening and security staff watched for illicit recording devices using night vision equipment.

You can read the complete article on the BBC website.

David Leigh founded The James Bond Dossier in 2002. A fan of 007 since the age of 8, he is also author of The Complete Guide to the Drinks of James Bond. You can order a copy here if you don't own it already.

Free monthly newsletter

Get the latest on Bond 26 and other James Bond news by email.


No thanks, I'm not interested in news about 007

Share this article

Like this article? Join our free 007 newsletter and get the latest on Bond 26 and other James Bond news by email.

Have you seen Quantum of Solace yet?

If so what did you think? Now you have the chance to let Bond fans from all around the world know exactly what your thoughts are on the new film. Answer questions like:

  • What worked for you?
  • What didn’t?
  • What would you like to see in Bond 23?

… and anything else you can think of. When writing your review, please remember that many people have yet to see the film, so avoid spoilers in your reviews.

Reviews are moderated and may be edited for content or clarity – reviews unsuitable for publication will be deleted.

Read more about Quantum of Solace

David Leigh founded The James Bond Dossier in 2002. A fan of 007 since the age of 8, he is also author of The Complete Guide to the Drinks of James Bond. You can order a copy here if you don't own it already.

28 Responses to “Quantum of Solace – user reviews”

  • Gaven Ackers

    Just watched Quantum of Solace at the pictures, the fast paced story was great and the car scene fantastic.

    However, it lacked the 007 factor that Casino Royale had but was action packed.

    Great film!

    Gaven Ackers

  • Floyd

    I went with three others and while I loved it they hated it – they were expecting Bond as we have come to know him, but this is still Bond in development. However, I feel that it worked well by adding closure to Casino Royale and this is very much the end of the story.

    Craig shows the soft human side to Bond as well as his ruthless side and these two elements work together well. I feel he is the perfect choice and is close to becoming my favorite Bond. Good to see the original Bond tune slowly making its way back as he becomes more and more like the person we have come to know.

    What I didn’t like was the fact the scene were Bond stabs the villain in the neck with the scissors, that appears in the trailer had been cut from the movie.

  • Alan O'Regan

    The opening is great it picks up straight from the end of Casino Royale.

    The story is not as good as the last one but, it is action packed and still I think it has left some issue to be resolved.

    Hopefully this will be sorted in the next one.

  • Jon Allen

    Saw QoS last night with my son. It was fast paced and boy did you need to concentrate, not a bad thing in this day and age a film that requires some concentration. Stunts were awesome, especially the car chase at the beginning. If I were to criticize it would be that it was too fast paced and you could not afford to miss any of it, unfortunately the fizzy drink went straight through me and a trip to the little boys room had to be made and I for a brief time was confused as to where we had got to.
    However that said a brilliant second outing for the man that I think will become second only to the Master (Sir Sean) as the best Bond. You can tell that he is becoming the ‘Bond of Old’, the gun-barrel has made an appearance, all be it at the end of the film.

  • NY_152

    I would say don’t expect a “Bond” film expect a finalisation of Casino Royale. Where this film will stand in years to come is anyone’s guess. I see it as the Diamonds Are Forever we never got after On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

    As for the film itself it’s great, fast punchy and only stops to get it’s breath every now and then.
    The stunts are awesome, some people won’t like the camera work, but I felt it drew you in to action rather than stand back and watch what was going on.

    The theme song works well with the “Pinderesque” tiles.

    There are nods to older Bond films Goldfinger being the obvious but there are many dotted around that aren’t so obvious.
    Greene is a good villain one of the best in my view as he’s disturbingly normal yet mad at the same time.
    Daniel Craig has made Bond his own and in my opinion has pushed Mr Dalton into second place.
    If I were to mark it I’d give it 6/10 as a stand alone movie yet 7/10 as a follow up to Casino Royale.

    Pete

  • David Drummond

    Having caught up with our hero last week I feel there is an element of “emperors new clothes” about QoS.

    Frankly the movie is as desperately bad as Casino Royale was good! It is crap. Total crap. And here’s why…

    Casino Royale worked because it is essentially pure Fleming. QoS doesn’t work because Purvis and Wade just don’t have the imagination to embellish the little original material they injected into CR. Also, shame on Mr & Mrs Wilson – what were they thinking when hiring Marc Forster! He just isn’t up to the task. Desperately bad direction leaves Danny Boy struggling on several levels. Nothing irritates me more than that hand held camera nonsense during chase scenes – which renders the film almost unwatchable.

    Where to from here then? Well I’d suggest we get Paul Greengrass on board, now that he’s run Bourne to ground. And maybe let me have a go at writing the script… I can’t do much worse!

  • Tim Mottershead

    Quantum of Solace: a Bond film of our time

  • Byron Edwards

    Quantum of Solace showed plenty of action with Bond travelling from place to place leaving where Casino Royale left off. The action sequences were excellent. Daniel Craig yet again delivers a gritty but vengeful performance a lot more to Fleming

  • Catherine Forbes

    I saw Quantum of Solace on the opening night in the USA and the cinema was crowded. I found this ironic since I also went to the opening of Casino Royale and there were not too many people there.

    In my opinion, Casino Royale was a much better bond movie – QOS was too much like the Jason Bourne series. I immensely love the Jason Bourne series, but both agents are entirely different and Bond has always set the standard that others follow,not the other way around.

    Daniel Craig did a very good job, but this film just did not feel like a Bond film. It was interesting that the producers showed the gun barrel scene at the end which tells us that it will be more like Bond in Bond 23. I look forward to Bond 23.

  • Lou Turco

    Excellent action
    Plot a little thin.
    Craig carries the movie. By far the best bond ever.
    The movie felt like the Bourne series with all of the chases.
    The chases were top notch

  • Patrick Lee

    I greatly enjoyed Casino Royale and its return-to-basics approach to reinventing Bond and I thought Daniel Craig was fabulous. So I very enthusiastically awaited Quantum of Solace.

    I enjoyed QofS but, like others, I feel Casino Royale was a superior movie. The pace, action, and globehopping are definitely ramped up for QofS but the lack of quieter moments makes the charm and sophistication of Bond feel muffled. Also, because QofS evokes more concrete comparisons to the Bourne films, it comes across as a duplicate, somewhat robbing Bond of his uniqueness. Don’t get me wrong: I still immensely enjoyed the film and Daniel Craig and Judi Dench are aces. Can’t wait for the next one.

  • Kaleb Kochensparger

    I saw Quantum of Solace The Day it came out. I thought that it was better than Casino Royale. Do to the fact that it had more action. QOS Was a darker Bond movie than the others. Its more like what they tried to do with Timothy Dalton during the late 80s. But it fits better for this bond movie than it did then. But it works better because Daniel Craig seems to fill the roll better than when Dalton did it.

    Over All I gave it two thumbs up and an 8/10.

    Im hoping the Bond 23 will do better than Bond 22 did.

    I hope that Daniel Craig will try to sign on for four or five more bond movies. I Would Like to See Sean Connery come out of retirement and return as Q. I would also like to see the return of miss Moneypenny

  • Martin Waller

    Casino Royale was said to have begun with nonstop action. Hang on because Quantum of Solace puts it to shame. It starts fast and continues to in many action scenes. You can catch a few scenes where it pays tribute to the earlier films like Goldfinger & Thunderball.

    The action came in regular intervals. A series of action with a short scene of dialog that followed. Then it was followed by another action scene. I had just enough time to get my heart rate down when it ran back up again.

    I still appreciate that in this series of Bond films that the gadgets don

  • Greg

    James Bond or James Bourne? The movie started out on a bad note, literally. The titles and theme where the worst ever. The Director needed to develope the charactors better and the fight scenes where too chopped up to follow. Good note: Daniel Charig was great. The car chase was fantastic but, some of the other chases seemed just fill for the film. What worked for me. Nothing? What Didn’t? The director. What would you like to see in Bond 23? The Gun Barrel at the beginning. Bond,James Bond. The return of Spectre. A fantastic story and a great title song and score.

  • Sean Knott

    Daniel Craig was quoted as saying “the biggest (insult) done to the Bond Series was Austin Powers” and so we see a return to some of the old Broccoli charm and violence for the sake of violence that could have been present in the Bonds of the 70’s and 80’s if those generations were as liberal. There is a lack of “classic” bond elements, Q branch is gone, the only gadgets we see are at MI-6 outside of a truly multi-function cell phone in bonds hands. The Aston Martin drives on rails, and we get to see more of the “skill set” side of James Bond, we get James the Lover, the classic charm that makes woman want him and guys want to be him! I caught a few references to older films but without spoiling plot, just do what I did and pull out every “EON” Broccoli film in the series and catch the nods to Goldfinger, The Man with the Golden Gun, From Russia with Love and Dr. No…thanks in part to co-producer Barbara Broccoli no doubt. Forget waiting to see this on video, thers is at times too much action to be contained on the big screen, and even a 60″ plasma won’t do this film justice! I liked Quantum of Solace and caught the midnight showing on Thursday as not to miss being one of the first people in my circle to see it and give it a good bond bravado, before any of the less faithful could nay say it!

  • Shawn M. Roeder

    This is one of the best Bond films I have seen in a long time. The action was far more realistic than Bond films of old. Daniel Craig’s Bond has the perfect mixture of grittiness and vulnerability. The plot (which has always just been a reason for the action) is topical. The locations are exotic. The stunts are well executed and the women are beautiful. Could there be a better escape than a well made James Bond movie?

  • Sonny

    This is by far the worst Bond film of all time! The title song is terrible, it was as if lets lower JB to the main stream, not bring it up. The editing was disjointed and child like, the story was empty, Mr. Craig’s acting talent was not used at all. Locations were weak, sets were minimum, what a great disappointment, I wish I could get my 20 dollars as well as the 1.5 hours of my life back! The next Bond I will wait for video after this rip off!

  • Chris Johnson

    I said, it’s a great non-stop adrenaline high octane thrill seaking ride, but they could have add a little more story to that motion picture.
    I still loved that movie.

  • Neil Anthony

    Saw the movie opening day in the USA. While I enjoyed the movie I felt I was watching the second part of a trilogy?

    Craig is growing into the role very nicely and has my vote as one of the best Bond’s so far.

    I also felt the movie was very short – very unlike the rest of the Bond movies. With the action being so fast paced I came away feeling that I hadn’t been in the theatre more than an hour!

    The one thing I hated was the theme song. Everyone I have spoken to has made the same comment.

  • Sandra J

    I, was also disappointed with the flow of the movie. Casino Royale was excellent!!! I love the manner in which it Directed. So why change direction in mid-stream when it’s working?? This movie just didn’t Jive for me. I didn’t want to see M at every turn either!! She became annoying toward the end. I definitely didn’t care for the ending… I was expecting something more on the line of “Die Another Day” with the two attractive Bond Girls. However, I will remain a honest Die Heart Fan!!!

  • Bud Roberts

    If I was to make an educated guess, I would say the producers of Quantum of Solace went out and shot numerous fight and chase scenes, then hastily filled the gaps with some (very weak) plot lines.
    I have been an avid Bond fan since 1965 and this was the worst Bond production ever.
    They have also excised all of Bond’s charm and have portrayed him as only a blunt instrument.

  • Mike Thunders

    Well, to start it off, the new theme song collaboration is an irrational duo (Jack White and Alicia Keys?). Now that I got that out of the way, DO NOT BLAME CRAIG FOR ANYTHING THAT IRKS YOU IN THIS FILM!!

    He is without a doubt one of the most innovative of the Bond actors, thanks to his bony facial features, ripped body, and unforgettable toughness (this IS Bond when he was BECOMING the MI6 agent we all love).

    But this is a different Bond film that is classified to be a “revenge” movie, so Bond is mostly focused on discovering more secrets on Vesper’s betrayal and the people behind it. What this film did not accomplish was to write a very good plot: Dominic Greene, the “villian” of the film, was weak and did not really have people loathing him like the usual Bond villian would.

    Also, any Bond bluff will instantly feel nostalgic at the sight of a Bond film with less gadgets, less grotesque villians, less romps, etc. But what fans should understand is that a entirely new concept was being tested in this film: realism. They wanted to make a new bond that fought and shot pistols more than a Bond that uses fictuous gadgets and Greene was to represent the evils in society instead of the traditional grotesque villian, as aforementioned.

    Nonetheless, if you are a first-timer to the Bond series, the film is without a doubt one of THE most action-packed Bond films of all time. The plot, despite being mediocre, is still comprehensible.

  • july

    We didn’t care for it. It was too “fantastical” if that’s a word. There was no James Bondesque…he didn’t even say Bond, James Bond. I like Dainel Craig but I think the script was lame and the direction was too much. Looking forward to the next Bond film and hoping it is more like the old bond films.

  • Jedi Master Lego

    To be honest, they could have picked a better director for the darn movie, than someone who directed “Monster’s Ball”. I mean seriously, what was that about?

    It literally lost the “feeling” that Casino-Royale established.

  • Lawrence Eichman

    Thought the film was outstanding. Action from beginning to end. Would have like to see Bond play a game of cards or the like but overall very good. Did not care a lot for the theme song. However thought Bond and M gave 5 star performances.

    Lawrence

  • Eloi

    Ce film est absolument enormissime ! en sortant j’avais deja hate que le suivant arrive! Le personnage de james bond est pouss

  • Solomen Ahmed

    I’m a huge Bond fan, since when I was a kid. I like Casino Royale and that’s one of my favourite Bond film so far. I saw Quantum Of Solace, just to be honest, it wasn’t that good and it wasn’t good as Casino Royale. The film continues after Casino Royale. The film is about revenge, which Bond has lost his loved one, Vesper Lynd and he’s going after the terrorists called Quantum.

    The story is a bit confusing and I still understand it. Also, I didn’t like the camera angles during the action scenes. It’s a really short film, which lasts 1hr 45mins. No offence, but I didn’t like what the director Marc Foster did. There’s no sex in it, but Bond only kissed her back on the bed at the hotel. He didn’t say “Name’s Bond….James Bond” for the first time because Marc Foster cut it out because he said that it didn’t work at the scene and he was trying to make it more modern, which is a bit stupid.

    I would rate this film 7 out of 10 because the story ruined it a bit, no sex and he didn’t say “Bond….James Bond” which is a huge negative.

    I want Bond 23 to continue after Quantum Of Solace because the story has to finish. I would like to have Q and Moneypenny back. I want John Cleese Back as Q because he’s a good actor and he’s done a good job in The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day.

  • Dave

    Bond has finely come of age, the modern realistic feel that the directors have achieved is great, I really like the direction they are taking the movies and hope they stay clear of some the silly over the top stuff in some of the previous movies. Daniel Graig is the best Bond since Connery; hope to see him in a lot more films.

Leave a Reply.

Comment Please keep your comment on topic.

Name
Email